Breaking Bad (thread will have *spoilers*)

[LogGrad98]

So you know if Jesse has just gotten in that van with the new identity guy, none of this would have happened this way.

Also, I don't know if I liked the way they wrote Flynn's part in the end here. It seemed he turned pretty fast on his dad. And him calling 911 and immediately lying about Walt attacking Skyler seemed out of character somewhat. I don't think he would have gone that route even if he felt his mom was in real danger. He didn't want to believe her in the first place, then she obviously attacked Walt with the knife, and Walt was obviously trying to protect himself. For Flynn to go immediately to his phone to call the police seemed wrong somehow. Like it didn't fit. That has been the only part of this last half of this season that has bugged me really.

 

[Zulu]

So you know if Jesse has just gotten in that van with the new identity guy, none of this would have happened this way.

Also, I don't know if I liked the way they wrote Flynn's part in the end here. It seemed he turned pretty fast on his dad. And him calling 911 and immediately lying about Walt attacking Skyler seemed out of character somewhat. I don't think he would have gone that route even if he felt his mom was in real danger. He didn't want to believe her in the first place, then she obviously attacked Walt with the knife, and Walt was obviously trying to protect himself. For Flynn to go immediately to his phone to call the police seemed wrong somehow. Like it didn't fit. That has been the only part of this last half of this season that has bugged me really.

I think all that Marie and his Mom told him at the Car wash sunk in when Walt was barking orders to pack what is important and then when the fight broke out he saw all that was told him was true and he wanted to save his mom...

Especially cause he had been mean to her throughout the show and defended his dad and he realized that his mom had been the good parent all along!!

 

[Jason]

Started listening to the official podcast for this episode. Some tidbits:

1. The flashback scene was filmed now, no pilot footage
2. The flashback scene was the very last thing ever filmed because Walt needed to shave his goat
3. The opening credits were not run until later which is a violation of the Director's Guild rules but they got a one-time exception
4. Take a look at the dirt under his head when Walt falls to the ground (I guess it parallels something in the poem that was the title of the episode)?
5. Walt's pants that he lost in the beginning of the series in the desert were in the scene when he was rolling his barrel

Geekin' out!

 

[sirkickyass]

So you know if Jesse has just gotten in that van with the new identity guy, none of this would have happened this way.

Also, I don't know if I liked the way they wrote Flynn's part in the end here. It seemed he turned pretty fast on his dad. And him calling 911 and immediately lying about Walt attacking Skyler seemed out of character somewhat. I don't think he would have gone that route even if he felt his mom was in real danger. He didn't want to believe her in the first place, then she obviously attacked Walt with the knife, and Walt was obviously trying to protect himself. For Flynn to go immediately to his phone to call the police seemed wrong somehow. Like it didn't fit. That has been the only part of this last half of this season that has bugged me really.

I had thought for some time they were purposely keeping Jr. as pure as possible because Walt was going to cross a line at some point where he took an action that got Jr. killed. It appears they actually thought of something worse: stealing his innocence.

Started listening to the official podcast for this episode. Some tidbits:

4. Take a look at the dirt under his head when Walt falls to the ground (I guess it parallels something in the poem that was the title of the episode)?

5. Walt's pants that he lost in the beginning of the series in the desert were in the scene when he was rolling his barrel

Geekin' out!

 

[LogGrad98]

I had thought for some time they were purposely keeping Jr. as pure as possible because Walt was going to cross a line at some point where he took an action that got Jr. killed. It appears they actually thought of something worse: stealing his innocence.

That's a very good point. I hadn't thought of that angle. Still not sure I liked the way Flynn just immediately went to the police, still feels like deus ex machina somewhat to get Walt on the run with time short in the series, but it does work from that standpoint.

 

[LogGrad98]

This is a pretty good write-up about the last episode. Hits some very insightful points. If you take exception, disregard the publication, it is still a good analysis.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-ryan/breaking-bad-reactions_b_3942905.html

Some good quotes:

...the basis of Walt's relationship with Jesse was control, and when Jesse tricked Walt into coming out into the desert, Walt could not handle the shift in the power dynamic between them. So he threw Jane's death in Jesse's face. The last time they met in the desert, Walt got a doubting Jesse to buy the "I'm your caring mentor" B.S. again, but Jesse wasn't buying it when he rolled up with Hank and Gomez. So Jesse had to pay.

Walt's true skill isn't the creation of meth, it's the creation of myth. It's all about story lines that favor him, allow him to dominate or neutralize criticisms of him. The phone call's just the latest in a long line of problem-solving manipulations -- and those usually include a few nuggets of truth.

One of the goals of "Ozymandias," I think, was to rub our noses in the true nature of the guy we've been following for five seasons. This hour forced us to look hard at his capacity for cruelty, his selfishness and his narcissistic desire not just to win but to subjugate and control. It's no wonder some of us wanted to look away: It was ugly to witness Walt terrifying his family, easily accessing the tyrant of that phone call and kidnapping his own daughter. But we have to look at it. All of it.

 

[Nate505]

Hank now works for the D.E.A.D.

(wish I could take credit for that)

 

[sirkickyass]

That's a very good point. I hadn't thought of that angle. Still not sure I liked the way Flynn just immediately went to the police, still feels like deus ex machina somewhat to get Walt on the run with time short in the series, but it does work from that standpoint.

I think it's pretty clear Walt was planning on running before Jr. called the police. That's what he was trying to get everyone to do when Skylar came at him with the knife.

 

[spycam1]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but here Cranston recites the Ozymandias poem. This is a trailer that was released before the Final Episodes premiered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3dpghfRBHE

 

[LogGrad98]

Interesting interview.

https://www.nbcnews.com/entertainme...er-i-didnt-script-baby-saying-mama-8C11169986

We really just kind of got lucky that the baby Hollys were giving us what we needed within a scene. Certainly, seeing Skyler pounding on the window of a pickup truck was really scary. But in the restroom scene with Bryan, her mommy was just three feet away. And I didn’t script the baby saying “Mama.” I scripted that Walter would come to it himself as he stood Baby Holly up and looked in her face and realized he was doing the wrong thing by her. And then, when he stood her up, and she looked over his shoulder at her 'Mama' and started asking for her, Bryan the consummate actor rolled with it. We just got some movie magic. It was just incredible. It was more than I could have hoped for — it was like the moment that I wrote on meth.

 

[spycam1]

^^proof that God wants Breaking Bad to end perfectly.

 

[NUMBERICA]

So you know if Jesse has just gotten in that van with the new identity guy, none of this would have happened this way.

Also, I don't know if I liked the way they wrote Flynn's part in the end here. It seemed he turned pretty fast on his dad. And him calling 911 and immediately lying about Walt attacking Skyler seemed out of character somewhat. I don't think he would have gone that route even if he felt his mom was in real danger. He didn't want to believe her in the first place, then she obviously attacked Walt with the knife, and Walt was obviously trying to protect himself. For Flynn to go immediately to his phone to call the police seemed wrong somehow. Like it didn't fit. That has been the only part of this last half of this season that has bugged me really.

Some people still have an actual moral compass. Additionally, he saw that the accusations lined up perfectly with what he encountered upon seeing Walt when they arrived, in addition to hearing that Walt might've killed Hank. I don't think Walt Jr.'s behavior was really off at all. If there was anything off, it's that Walt Jr. didn't realize, accept, or acknowledge his own hand in all of this by endlessly shaming Skyler for leaving Walt for the very same reasons that he's furious.